NEW YORK — With the NFL and the former players association operating amid a state of confusion after a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Monday to lift the league’s lockout, the two sides tried explaining their stances to the public Tuesday.

George Atallah, assistant executive director of external affairs for the trade association
that was formerly the NFLPA, joined Jets fullback Tony Richardson on a panel at the New York Law School.

NFL executive VP and general council Jeff Pash held a conference call with reporters to explain the league’s stance.

“When it comes down to it, the NFL and the NFL’s lawyers are in a position where they have to defend a lockout,” Atallah said. “That’s the bottom line. The players do not want a lockout.”

The league has maintained that the players association’s decertification is a “sham” because the players are still a united faction, a lockout is legal and the way to solve the labor dispute is through negotiation, not litigation.

The NFL has asked for a stay on Judge Susan Richard Nelson’s decision. If the stay is not granted, the appeal will move to the 8th Circuit in St. Louis.

“We remain confident in our legal position,” Pash said. “We are taking steps, and already have taken steps, to put the process of review by an appeals court into place.”

Pash and the NFL looked for more clarity before offering any firm opinions. Pash was adamant about the dangers of a league year that is halted after two or three days before a stay is granted.

In that time frame, he worried teams could cause serious damage to the league structure that would be difficult to mend, such as long-term personnel decisions made under duress. Pash would not go as far as saying that the damage caused would be greater than locking the players out altogether.

“I think it is a very powerful reason for getting a stay because what it suggests — whether it’s 48 hours, or 72 hours, or three weeks, whatever — is that you can well find yourself in a situation where a team and players have made decisions and taken actions that are very difficult to undo,” Pash said.

Richardson remarked that there could be “utter chaos” if general managers juggled free agency, the draft and player trades during the same day. As a free agent, Richardson is telling players to “wait and see” until the league determines the rules of engagement. But without a lockout, the players want the league year to begin as soon as possible.

As it currently stands, both the league and the players are operating in flux. Different teams operated with different rules Tuesday.

Even if Nelson does not alter her ruling, more litigation will continue to complicate the process. Pash said the league is confident the appellate court is “somewhat better” than perception indicates, citing a 2004 case involving Maurice Clarett that went in favor of the league and overruled decisions in federal or district court.

For the players, there is little to dispute. But with more legal hurdles ahead, Richardson compared the past 48 hours to a first down and not yet a touchdown.

“We’re now in a position where things are legally complicated and philosophically cut and dry,” Atallah said. “Players want to continue to lift the lockout and keep the lockout from happening. The NFL and the owners now have to argue that a lockout needs to be put back in place.”